1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to securing live card games and, more particularly, to securing multi-site progressive jackpots for live card games using automatic card shufflers.
2. Statement of the Problem
Progressive jackpot slot machines and live card games (such as Black Jack, Baccarat, Chemin de Fer, Pai Tow Poker, Draw Poker, Stud Poker, and Lo-Ball Poker) represent two types of games that are popular among gamblers throughout the world.
A need exists for a progressive jackpot system for live card games at remote sites. With players at numerous remote sites for the live card games, a security problem exists that becomes critically important as the size of the progressive jackpot grows. Since a live card game is played independently with card decks and dealers, there exists a substantial risk (into the millions of dollars) of cheating and/or card counting (whether legal or illegal). See Scarne's New Complete Guide to Gambling, by John Scarne, Simon & Schuster (1986) pages 382-388. The risk of cheating increases as the size of the progressive jackpot increases.
A need, therefore, exists to create a secure environment that permits the operation of multiple independent live card games linked together in a common system to the same progressive jackpot that provides significant security to prevent cheating and card counting. A need also exists for added levels of security for conventional live card games such as a secure automatic shuffler/shoe.
A "hand" is commonly defined as one deal of cards to the players in a live card game. A "deck" for a particular live card game has a predetermined number of cards. For example Black Jack uses a conventional card deck with four "suits" (diamonds, hearts, clubs, and spades) containing 13 cards of different "value" (ace through king) for a predetermined number of 52 cards.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,405 pertains to an apparatus for providing a progressive jackpot for live card games. The '405 patent allows each player to bet an additional "progressive" wager at the beginning of each hand by providing an apparatus to receive the progressive game token and to control a jackpot meter. The apparatus is built into the game table and any number of tables can be interconnected together to a single progressive jackpot meter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,061 pertains to a card-dispensing shoe having a device that reads cards as they are dealt in a hand from the shoe. By using specially coded cards, indicating the value, the suit, and the deck identity of each card, this device enables the operator to detect when cards are added to, removed from, or substituted into a deck. The electronics in the shoe also determine and display the count of the game (i.e., the running count, the betting count, and a true count). This patent teaches an approach to providing two added levels of security for live card games (i.e., tracking the count and sensing when cards are improperly substituted at the point of dealing a hand).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,145 pertains to an automatic and continuous card shuffler that receives all playing cards after each hand is completed and continuously shuffles all the cards in the deck (or in multiple decks such as four decks) with the effect that every hand is dealt from a completely "fresh" and randomly shuffled deck (or multiple decks) of cards. This patent also provides a level of added security to live card games by greatly inhibiting the ability of a player to legally or illegally count played cards. A need exists for a secure shuffler that counts and identifies cards both entering and leaving the shuffler.
Pending German patent application P44 39 502.7 sets forth a computerized device that reads cards as they are dealt from a shoe and also senses when a hand is receiving cards at a position on a game table. The computer tracks each hand and records the value and suit of each card in each player's hand. The computer senses when a dealer has a Black Jack and immediately issues a signal. This approach electronically surveys each game and minimizes manual inspection of the game. These computers can be linked by various means to a central computer so that numerous hands played at numerous remote locations can be exactly monitored. This device prevents numerous forms of cheating by maintaining a history of every winning and losing hand played. The dealer never knows the hole card until it is played thereby eliminating any possibility of cheating between a dealer and a player by tipping their hole card. This patent application also provides an added degree of security to live card games.
A need exists to have a multi-site progressive jackpot system for live card games incorporating as many levels of security as possible into one integrated system.
3. Solution to the Problem
The present invention provides a solution to the above needs by providing a secure live card game table system that can be connected in a multi-site environment to a central control. Various levels of security are incorporated including identifying each card dealt by a dealer and storing the value and suit in memory; identifying which player positions have game bets and progressive bets in place; determining when a card is received at a player position; and ascertaining whether the player position that has received a card has placed a game bet and/or a progressive bet. The shuffler and shoe of the present invention counts and reads cards leaving the shoe and being inserted into the shuffler so as to prevent card substitution, addition or subtraction by the dealer or a player. The present invention also records the value and suit for each card received at each player position having a game bet placed. Finally, the present invention provides for a unique identity code for each deck physically placed on each card so that after a hand is played, and the cards are reinserted into the shuffler, a count is made and the code on each card is read. If the count is in error or the code does not match or is missing, an alarm signal is raised by the game control.